Hello, I'm Ben. I write about things I'm interested in: brands, design, marketing and communications and how these can be used to create a more sustainable world.
Functional and intriguing. Rare and humble. Useful and special. The products on show at the Kiosk meets SCP collaboration during London Design Week are oxymoronic. And therefore fascinating.
Even the act of going to see products like these, displayed like this, is contradictory. Products as plain as laundry clips and drain plugs are displayed like works of art: hung on the walls with little printed signs describing them.
These are quiet products, but they are full of stories. The little printed signs tell the story of where and how Kiosk’s ‘curators’ found the item. And, given space, the products seem willing to tell their ancestors stories – what happened to other versions of the same product.
The Kiosk brand works in a really interesting way. Its adventurer; travelling around the world to find unique knick-knacks for stay at homes. Its curator; presenting these objects to us in thought provoking way. And its a storyteller: imbuing context and meaning into products we’ve never seen before.
The packaging alludes to these different aspects of the brand: a clear wrapper allows us to see the product, the package is sealed with the name of the people who brought it to us and the story is provided by a copy of the little sign.
